3D Printed Honda Is No Cookie Cutter Car

Local Motors is not the only company offering 3D printed cars to customers. In Japan, Honda is using 3D printing to make highly customizable vehicles to suit the particular needs of individual customers. At this year’s CEATEC show in Tokyo, the Japanese company is showcasing an all electric Micro Commuter car with a body made of 3D printed panels. The body pieces took nearly a month to be printed by a Stratsys printer.

The car was created for Toshimaya cookie company, noted for its bird shaped butter cookies. So Honda programmed the 3D printer to incorporate lots and lots of bird shapes into the finished panels. Getting those shapes embedded into the bodywork would be impossible using any other manufacturing techniques. The design phase for the exterior took Honda people more than two months to complete.

The Micro Commuter has a maximum range of about 50 miles. It has three separate battery packs — one under the floor of the car and two mounted in slots next to the driver’s seat. Those auxiliary packs can be removed easily and brought indoors for charging if there is no charger available outside. Together they only provide about 10  miles of range but that would usually be enough to get the vehicle back to its home base where regular charging arrangements are available. The car uses a tube frame borrowed from Honda’s motorcycle division to support the exterior panels, according to Endgadget.

The car for Toshimaya cookie company has several special features built in. It has slide out trays in the rear and tie down points to keep boxes filled with confectionery delights from sliding around en routeto customers. Honda is also thinking about other ways to customize the highly flexible Micro Commuter chassis. A car it has done for a coffee roasting company has a removable coffee cart built in to the rear. Another for a fish company is shaped to actually look like a fish.

While these custom made cars are somewhat whimsical, they point the way to a future in which 3D printing will make it possible for more people to drive a car that reflects their occupation or personality. Like the offerings from Local Motors, each vehicle could be completely recycled into something different at the whim of the owner. With advances in technology, anything is possible.

Source: C/Net RoadShow    Photos credits: Endgadget

Airbus Makes A 3D Printed Electric Motorcycle

AP Works is a division of Airbus. Last week, it unveiled the Light Rider, an all electric motorcycle that uses a 3D printed aluminum frame. The finished bike weighs a feather light 77 pounds. The frame is one third lighter than a normal e-bike. According CEO Joachim Zettler, conventional production techniques such as milling or welding could not be use to build such a complex structure of branched, hollow tubes.

Actually, saying the frame is aluminum is a bit misleading. APWorks calls the material it uses “Scalmalloy,” a custom aluminum alloy powder “with almost the specific strength of titanium.” When used in a 3D printer, it is capable of making structures that are incredibly strong but super light in weight by fusing thin layers of material together.

The Light Rider is no TT Zero racer or Pikes Peak contender. It has a top speed of only 50 mph and accelerates to 30 miles per hour in just a touch more than 3 seconds. The battery can be easily removed for recharging or swapped out when depleted. It has a range of 35 miles. The light weight means it could actually be carried on a normal bicycle rack or taken upstairs in an elevator without much exertion.

Price will be an issue for most people, though. APWorks will make only 50 of the Light Rider machines and is selling them for $56,000 a copy. That’s a fairly expensive solution to the “last mile” conundrum. But just as prices of personal computers and LED televisions plummeted after they went into mass production, the Light Rider is merely a way point on the journey to low cost all electric transportation.

Right now, these e-bikes are mostly an advertisement for APWorks and its 3D printing technology. It won’t be long before these sorts of innovations begin trickling down to mainstream manufacturing.

Source: The Verge  Photo credit: AP Works

Local Motors Aims To Produce 3D-Printed Car In 2016

Wow, Local Motors sure is busy this year. This unusual auto manufacturer specializes in collaborative open source design, microfactories, and 3D printing, and we took note when the company kicked off 2015 by hooking up with the US Energy Department for a new lightweight design challenge. What we didn’t note was this other challenge launched by Local Motors, which could put you behind the wheel of a fully customized 3D printed car some time next year.

3D Printing

The latest challenge comes under the heading Project, which Local Motors playfully introduced with a video that would put the most insistent Jade Helm conspiracy theorist to shame (seriously, ice cream truck morgues?).

The challenge was to design “the next generation of 3D-printed cars,” and qualifying entries had to demonstrate that the design could result in the world’s first road-ready 3D printed car, which Local Motors really does plan to put into production in 2016.

The idea is to roll out a low-speed version at the beginning of the year, and follow it up with a “fully homologated highway-ready” model before 2017 (homologated is fancy-speak for a vehicle approved for a particular use).

The winning entry was announced last week, and it’s a twofer that demonstrates the high degree of customization enabled by 3D printing. Kevin Lo, a long-time Local Motors collaborator known as Reload, won for a duo of designs called Reload Swim and Reload Sport.

Reload Swim is a 2+2 buggy that recalls Pimp My Ride with a beach party–ready sound system:

Reload Sport, shown at the top of this article, features a more sleek, look-at-me-I’m-aggressive approach to style.

The secret sauce is a hull-based foundation that forms a “skateboard” upon which other elements are added:

Did we mention that the new 3D printed car will be an electric vehicle? It will be, and the placement of the batteries was done to maximize the compatibility of the design with 3D printing. You can get more details about the construction from the Local Motors slideshow, or check out the company’s somewhat bombastically produced (on purpose, we’re guessing) video:

3D Printer Plans For Honda Concept Cars Hit The Web

The quiet rise of 3D printing has the potential to change everything we know about traditional manufacturing, and this includes the auto industry. Honda likes to position itself as one of the more tech-savvy automakers, and the move to upload 3D printer plans of five past and present Honda concept cars is likely just a taste of things to come.

3D printing is making its way into homes all over, and it seems inevitable that everything from utensils to automobiles will be made via 3D printers. No wonder Honda is already aligning itself with the technology, albeit in a benign way. The 3D printer plans include five Honda and Acura concept cars, including the new Acura NSX hybrid, the 2003 Kiwami, and the 1994 FSR Concept.

Of course these aren’t full-sized, drivable vehicles you’re printing, but rather just scale models of the exteriors. Which is still, you know, pretty sweet for any Honda fans who happen to own a decent 3D printer. I’d love to print out a mini NSX for my desk, though most of the other concepts fall somewhere between “Meh” and “Huh?” If you want to download the plans for yourself though, visit www.honda-3d.com.

While we’re still at least a decade or two from the first drivable, 3D-printed car, but it will be a revolutionary day when it does eventually happen.

Source: Honda